Vision of History: Sanger Reviving 1902 Church - Sanger, TX
N 33° 21.792 W 097° 10.543
14S E 669727 N 3693038
The Denton-Record Chronicle reports that, at long last, the old Sanger Presbyterian Church at 7th and Elm is to be restored and put to good use.
Waymark Code: WMRH8N
Location: Texas, United States
Date Posted: 06/21/2016
Views: 3
By Rhiannon Saegert
Staff Writer
rsaegert (at) dentonrc.com
Published: 19 June 2016 11:53 PM
SANGER — After falling into disrepair and disuse, the historic Sanger Presbyterian Church will be refurbished and returned to its city.
The church, at the intersection of Seventh and Elm streets, was named a historical landmark in 1972 and served as a community library until 1995, but since then the building has sat unused. After about two years of fundraising, construction on the $425,000 project began in April and will wrap up this fall, according to Sanger’s director of economic development, Alina Ciocan.
“It is part of Sanger’s history,” Ciocan said. “The community rallied together, held public meetings and decided they wanted to make this happen.”
The interior, roof, steeple, walls and windows all will be remodeled, but kept as close to the building’s original appearance as possible. Rotted wood on the buildings’ exterior will be replaced and painted white.
“[The damage] is pretty significant,” Ciocan said. “The building was deteriorated, and had been decaying for a long time.”
According to the Sanger Area Historical Society, the church was built in 1902 to house the Sanger Cumberland Presbyterian Church. It had the largest seating capacity of any building in town and was used as an auditorium and community center. The public school across the street would hold music lessons and recitals in the church.
In 1970, the Sanger Friends of the Library started the Sanger Public Library by collecting donations from the community. Community groups banded pooled their resources and bought the church building in 1971. They renovated and converted it into a library, setting aside space for a small museum and a meeting place for local organizations. The church building housed the library from 1972 to 1995.
Ciocan said once the community has the space back, it will be open for booking as a venue for weddings, receptions and other social functions.
“We already have a community center, and this would be an extension of that, but in a different way,” Ciocan said. “It’s smaller, and it’s got a different character because of its historic nature. We’ve seen a lot of interest from the community, and everybody is excited about it.”
The Sanger Area Historical Society did most of the fundraising with the city’s help.
“It’s a partnership between different entities to make this happen,” Ciocan said. “It’s taken a long time because of donations and funding, but now it’s finally coming to fruition.”
RHIANNON SAEGERT can be reached at 940-566-6897 and via Twitter at @missmusetta.
Type of publication: Newspaper
When was the article reported?: 06/19/2016
Publication: Denton Record-Chronicle
Article Url: [Web Link]
Is Registration Required?: no
How widespread was the article reported?: local
News Category: Arts/Culture
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